'Overwhelmed with joy and a high sense of satisfaction' - that's the state of my mind (or heart?) as the much awaited Sports Day comes to an end. It was a perfect example of teamwork where many hands came together to make the event a grand success. After multiple failed attempts in the beginning of the year, I handed over the baton to my friend to take the tradition ahead as I quit Aspiring Minds. And as I rejoined this month, what could be a more befitting welcome back event than that very Sports Day which evaded me for so long.
It was six months of planning that resulted in the culmination of this event. But being engineers, we strictly followed the 80-20 rule as majority of the work happened in the last one month. After two months of waiting for my rib fracture to set and another couple of months of merely thinking and saying - 'Karenge. Karenge. Hum Organize Karenge Sports Day', Vishal finally started exploring venue options a month back. Along with his R&D minions, he scavenged the internet for all possible options - from school grounds to farmhouses,and sports academies to colleges. But it was no simple task. If the venue was perfect in terms of amenities, it was located far or the cost was beyond the budget. If the price was within limits, the venue did not have all sporting facilities. Finally, it was the same venue that we got last year - but only after multiple refusals and price negotiations. And it was finalized just in time, because if we had skipped this date, then nothing could have happened for the next 3 months owing to the chilly winters in Delhi. Finally, that day was here for Vishal when he would actually Sports Day Organize karenge. Alas! How did it happen, I wonder? Is it because of his 'Team Lead'-ership skills? Or should I think, that his 'status-update' in life has made him more of a doer than a thinker... :D
In the morning, I got up at 7 and rushed out to the balcony to see how the weather looked like. The sight of a clear sky with no fog cheered me up. It meant that people just had to fight against one resistance - their own laziness to get out of their beds brazing the chillness in the air. Cloudy skies and foggy mornings could have pushed you back inside your quilt thinking that no one would come so early in the morning. Vishal, I and couple of his punctual minions, Arpit and Unnam reached the venue by 8-45 AM. We had 15 minutes to set things up before the event could kick-start.
But to our dismay, the venue was a bit of a let down. The sports academy we tied up with, were not as professional as the ones who organized it last year. There were no markings on the ground, the football goal-posts did not have nets, there was no hand-pump to fill air in football, the badminton net height was lower than the norm and the ceiling was also low being a constant hindrance to high shots. With so many shortcomings, one would readily assume the event is going to be a failure leaving the employees dissatisfied. But it's not the place but the people and their mindset/attitude that makes the difference in giving a quality experience. We had highly motivated set of organizers whose focus was on getting the sport organized, no matter what. There was no dwelling on trivialities. Despite being part of multiple sports, many of them took out time to officiate and time matches - Shobhit Jain, Mayank Awasthi, Abhishek Unnam, Abhishek Pandit, Nishant Thakur, Aditi Bajpai. We also had people helping us with photography from time to time - Piyush Bansal, Jaspreet, Abhishek Unnam and Nikhil Aneja.
What was the result of all this effort? A day well spent with your office colleagues, strengthening bonds both within and across teams. This year's event was way better than last year's despite the venue letdown. That's the difference teamwork can make. We were able to organize all the sports for which we paid unlike last year when Football was neglected. We could complete all the league matches and conduct the finals for every sport while this was not possible in any sport except Volleyball/Throwball last year. Athletics had greater participation and lemons/spoons din't go unused this time. Food wastage was minimal and there was no injury and very few fights. Sportsmanship largely prevailed barring one or two instances.
No matter how much you plan, and how well you organize, things could go haywire, if you have a bad audience. I think every employee contributed in the success in their own way. They were all cooperative, understanding and patient. There was no hurry to play any sport, people were willing to wait for their turn. Food boxes were not strewn around, they were responsible enough to pile them up at a single place. People helped each other, embraced each other, cheered each other, mocked each other and rarely did they shove, hit or kick each other (though Vishal tried hard in Basketball :D). The best part was - Zero abuses! unless my ears have gone immune to them, living in Delhi. Can you imagine sports without sledging? But that's how it was! The proof of the pudding lies in people's reaction when they leave. Many shook hands, some appreciated, some thanked, some smiled and some congratulated. Friends and family who accompanied the employees went back impressed.
On the personal front, I din't do too bad either. I could save myself from getting emotionally dragged into arguments and fights. Staying away from cricket umpiring was a wise choice, badminton was far easier to officiate. Unlike last year, I got to play for a considerable time and at peace without having to worry about what to organize and how. There were cheers and not jeers as I ran at top speed in the 100 m heats. I felt like I was just 20 rather than 30! :D Spent considerable time on the crease in cricket with a couple of boundaries and a good partnership with Vishal. We retained our gold medal in the relay race from last year. In Badminton, we advanced two rounds before bowing out in the semifinals - quite a decent performance given our lack of practice. But the best partnership of all was our tag-team execution of the event. Vishal's calm-and-cool planning, with a consultative and fair approach coupled with my organizational skills and silent work in the background did the trick. Above all, our unquestioning trust in each others' decisions was the key to a successful collaborative event execution. Hopefully, we should be able to wrap it up in style, with medal distribution and a newsletter release on the event.
The icing on the cake, was an early dinner post the event, with four of the best people in my life. It had been a while since we had met like this and taken out group-time. No worries about getting late for home, none of us was missing or lost (in thoughts), no office talks, no project delivery, no phone-calls (or Instagram). Just our own sweet time of chit-chat, leg-pulling and revisiting the year that's gone by.
All is well that ends well. My best ten minutes of the day were outside the Hanuman Mandir at Connaught Place where I distributed the leftover bananas. More than 30 homeless and underprivileged surrounded me and scrambled for their share of bananas. Before getting there, I was wondering if all the bananas would be consumed and decided to distribute 2 each so that I don't have to take back any. But as soon as I saw the crowd, I realized I would not be able to provide for all even if I had given only half each. The lucky firsts got their booty while many returned empty-handed and dejected. That left a void within me and on hindsight, I felt that I could have got the leftover biscuit packets also for distribution.
I had no intention of visiting the temple, I was too tired and wanted to head back home and crash in my bed. But as I was about to leave, I heard a sadhu singing loudly outside the temple - 'Mera Apki Kripa Se Sab Kaam Ho Rha Hai'. That infused a sense of gratitude within me because these words were so true. If not for the lord's blessings, how could have we pulled off such a massive event without any glitches. So, I went inside to pay my obeisance to my lord - Hanuman and after having a peaceful darshan, my lord blessed me and showed me that he was indeed pleased as I happened to be the last person to receive the bhog/prashad for the day while ten others standing behind me were unfortunately not as lucky as me.
"Pathwaar ke bina hi, meri naav chal rhi hai
Hairan hai zamaana, manzil bhi mil rhi hai
Karta nhi mein kuch bhi, Sab kaam ho rha hai
Karte ho tum kanhaiya, Mera naam ho rha hai..."
